REMBAU HISTORY, ETC. 37 
But the key to the denotation of his duties as well as of 
his rights is found in rule that the Elder is limited by his 
‘adat,’ which ‘adat’ consists in a single goat.’ Whatever rite 
can be duly performed, whatever offence duly condoned, 
whatever dispute finally settled by the slaying of a goat, or by 
the payment of an equivalent sum, these fall within the pro- 
vince of the Elder. 
The converse holds good at either extreme. Greater 
offences and grander ceremonies demand the cognisance or im- 
primatur of the tribal chief (lémbaga); but if the elder’s inter- 
vention is sought, his © adat”’ must be paid, even should the 
matter be proved to be beneath his jurisdiction, and terminable 
by the killing of a fowl, an.animal anyone may slaughter with 
impunity. Rembau custom does not contemplate the 
gratuitous performance of official duties. 
Irregular marriages into their tribe provide tribal officials 
with a rich source of fees. When the lémbaga’s sanction is 
necessary to validate a marriage, he divides the fee payable to 
him with the Elder and the tribal officers. The © surrender 
marriage’ (menyérah), where the man has enforced his suit by 
invasion of the verandah of the woman’s house, may be sanc- 
tioned by an Hlder, without reference to the tribal chief. 
The Elder is entitled thereat to a fee known as the © betel- 
flower” (Bunga Pinang),” payable before the wedding cere- 
mony takes place. In this fee the lémbaga has no share, but 
two-thirds are divided by the Elder amongst the officers-in- 
the-tribe, and the male relatives of the bride. At the present 
day, when British intervention has whittled down to the last 
strand the duties of the Elder, he finds in a © surrender mar- 
riage’ his best opportunity for obtruding his official position 
on the public: and hence his adat is apt to be spoken of as 
confined to the Bunga Pinang :—an error which confuses the 
right with the occasion of its exercise. 
(1) vide Saying No. XXIX. 
(2) vide chapter IV. p. sub irregular marriages, for amount 
of this fee. 
R. A. Soc., No. 56, 1910. 
